Punctuatory

The other day, my brother informed me that I was using a colon in a way that might come across as rude. “I find that colons are powerful beyond our understanding,” he told me in an instant message. “We are but mere mortals to their punctuatory (not a word) greatness.”

Anyone who knows me knows that I love a made up word. I collect them in my mental dictionary and use them regularly as if they were normal parts of the English language.

Now I have punctuatory.

Mike (my brother) offered the following definition:

Punctuatory, adj:

1)   of or relating to punctuation

2)   a type of weather-predicting groundhog in a parallel universe

“This student’s semicolon usage constitutes a punctuatory disaster!”

“Punctuatory Phil emerged from his hole today and saw his shadow. We can expect thirty more years of global warming.”

And there you have it. I bring you the important news.